Daily Update: SmackDown, Bullet Club ‘invasion’ of Raw, Cena

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FIGURE FOUR WEEKLY:Figure Four Weekly 9/25/2017: Recapping WWE No Mercy

While No Mercy may have been the biggest brand-exclusive pay-per-view that WWE has put on since the roster split, it was clear coming out of the show that the company’s focus is on building to one future match. Whether it’s at WrestleMania in New Orleans next year or at some point before then, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are on a collision course towards an inevitable meeting.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER:September 25, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: The deaths of Bobby Heenan and Otto Wanz

It’s a double issue this week of the Observer with major stories on Bobby Heenan and his career as well as Heenan behind the scenes, a story on the WWE Network and behind the different ideas they’ve talked about, as well as lengthy pieces on historical figures Otto Wanz and Ruben Juarez.

Look at Henan’s different roles in wrestling, how he got started, the WCW era, the AWA years, leaving WWE and why he may have never been brought back by WWE full-time.

Find out all the different ideas thrown out in the recent WWE Network survey, as well as the viability of some of them.

With Otto Wanz, look at his AWA title, his biggest career matches, how he got started in boxing and wrestling, a story regarding he and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the heyday of the CWA and how it was different from every other promotion in the world and what made it such a great territory to learn in, and what made him famous as a celebrity in Austria.

This issue contains details on the Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens angle, WWE bringing back the Starrcade name, the sale of WCW to WWF in 2001, the legacy of Starrcade, the first Starrcade, how Vince McMahon destroyed Starrcade and helped drive Jim Crockett Promotions out of business, the new Starrcade show, the next NXT Takeover show, more on Ric Flair, Ronda Rousey in WWE notes, Nikki Bella on Dancing With the Stars, Chris Jericho’s cruise idea in detail, and a Shayna Baszler update

Get an update on the Impact promotion and its move of TV to Ottawa, looking at the plans, the GFW name, the building they are going to, the pros and cons of moving, the situation with Jim Cornette, what happens to the ATT angle, and much more.

This issues runs down of the CMLL 84th anniversary show, the two mask vs. mask matches and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.

Also look at the New Japan Destruction in Hiroshima show, the angles, why King of Pro Wrestling looks like one of the best shows of the year, new lineup for Destruction in Kobe and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.

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ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com. 

Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)

If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.

WON BACK ISSUE: September 4, 2000: Fantastic WWE Summerslam reviewed, big ECW weekend, more

As the bar raises once again, the question becomes when does the bar hit the breaking point. SummerSlam was a spectacular show, with a great main event storyline going in, and even with a little tweaking of the main event itself due to Kurt Angle’s injury, a strong storyline paid off at the end while leaving the viewers still wanting more. But the match that stole the show was the tables, ladders and chairs match with Christian & Edge, The Dudleys and the Hardys.

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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE

WWE

  • Tonight’s SmackDown has Shane McMahon responding to Kevin Owens’ apology (while blaming Shane for his actions) for his attack on Vince McMahon. It’s also the first chance for WWE to follow-up on last week’s controversial Jinder Mahal promo where he mocked Shinsuke Nakamura’s race. WWE is teasing that Nakamura will be on the show, plus Rusev will be honored in a “Pride of Bulgaria Celebration,” The Hype Bros will face The Usos, and there will be more build to Hell in a Cell.
  • 205 Live tonight has Enzo Amore appearing for the first time since turning heel on Raw. Akira Tozawa will also face Tony Nese.
  • While parodying DX’s invasion of Nitro, members of the Bullet Club “invaded” last night’s Raw by appearing outside of the building. Matt Jackson sent out a message inviting fans to meet them at a Hot Topic in Ontario, California and they then went to the venue. The invasion played into storylines from “Being the Elite” and was chronicled on the latest episode, including Cody Rhodes doing the speech from Independence Day.
  • John Cena will star alongside Kumail Nanjiani in a still-untitled buddy cop movie that has been acquired by Universal and will be directed by Ruben Fleischer.
  • WWE uploaded video of the segment where Braun Strowman and the cruiserweight division attacked Enzo Amore after Raw went off the air last night. The clip has almost two million views already.
  • Triple H explained why he takes pictures with NXT wrestlers after big moments and posts them on social media: “You know why I take pictures with everybody? Because I’m more famous,” he said. “When I do that, and I take a picture, just on Twitter alone I got six million people that see it when I tap that picture. I make them something bigger, and that’s the attempt.” He added that he helps them if he can and steps away when they don’t need it anymore.
  • Matt and Jeff Hardy, Elias, Ruby Riot, Drew McIntyre, Lars Sullivan, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), Beth Phoenix, and Aleister Black were revealed as downloadable characters for WWE 2K18.
  • Shane McMahon discussed doing his own motion capturing for the video game.
  • Nikki Bella survived the first elimination on this season of Dancing with the Stars. Bella also told Fox 411 that she doesn’t think John Cena will ever retire.
  • Ric Flair has gotten some publicity for saying in an interview for his upcoming 30 for 30 that he’s slept with 10,000 women in his life. “I wish I hadn’t said that because of my grandkids,” Flair told People. “I only love one now. I have never done anything since I met Wendy.”
  • AdAge ran a story on The Rock and Dany Garcia opening an advertising agency.
  • Asuka turned 36 years old today and NXT’s Buddy Murphy celebrated his 29th birthday.

Pro Wrestling

  • Revolution Pro Wrestling announced a big first-time match between Tomohiro Ishii and Keith Lee for their November 9th Global Wars UK show at York Hall.
  • Nick Jackson tweeted that over 100,000 Young Bucks shirts have been sold at Hot Topic in the last three months.
  • Aaron Bentley has an article for Voices of Wrestling on a leaked email that Gabe Sapolsky sent to EVOLVE talent and Sapolsky’s reaction to finding out it was leaked.
  • ESPN published an article on Sami Callihan finding success outside of WWE. Callihan said about a match he had with Apollo Crews on NXT TV in September of 2015: “I remember before the match Apollo goes, ‘do you tonight. If we get in trouble I’ll take the blame. I remember getting pulled to the back from HHH and he was like, ‘where has this guy been for the last year’. I kinda had to bite my tongue, but lucky enough people like Norman Smiley and Billy Gunn straight up came up to him and was like, ‘this is the guy that’s been main eventing a lot of your house shows against Finn Balor and Kevin Owens and having killer matches, but then it comes to TV and you book him like a jobber.’”

UFC/MMA

Today in Professional Wrestling History: Triple H wins vacant WWF Championship

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